Lost Franklin expedition ship found in the Arctic
Inuit history accurate
"The beauty of where they found it is it's proof positive of Inuit oral history," CBC chief correspondent Peter Mansbridge, who has covered the Franklin search for many years, said Tuesday.
"The Inuit have said for generations that one of their hunters saw a ship in that part of the passage, abandonedand ended up wrecking. It's exactly where this guy said it was.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper says one of Canada's greatest mysteries now hasbeen solved, with the discovery of one of the lost ships from Sir John Franklin's doomed Arctic expedition.
"This is a great historic event," Harper said.
"For more than a century this has been a great Canadian story.It's been the subject of scientists and historians and writers and singers. And so I think we have a really important day in mapping together the history of our country," the prime minister said.
- The Franklin search: Peter Mansbridge on why we should care
- Franklin ship discovery: Read Harper's full statement
- CBC Special Report: Searching for Franklin
- Interactive: Franklin searches through the years
At this point, the searchers aren't sure if they've found HMS Erebus or HMS Terror. But sonar images from the waters of Victoria Strait, just off King William Island, clearly show wreckage of aship on the ocean floor.
In a statement, the prime minister said Franklin's expeditionlaid the foundations of Canadas Arctic sovereignty. He called the lost ships Canada's "onlyundiscovered national historical site."
Full Article: http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/lost-franklin-expedition-ship-found-in-the-arctic-1.2760311
9-10-2014 UPDATE:
The Canadian government began searching for Franklin's ships in 2008 as part of a strategy to assert Canada's sovereignty over the Northwest Passage, which has recently become accessible to shipping because of melting Arctic ice.
The find has been described as "the biggest archaeological discovery the world has seen since the opening of Tutankhamun's tomb almost 100 years ago" by a British archaeologist, William Battersby, who has written extensively about the Lincolnshire explorer's expedition.
"From the images it is clear that a huge amount of evidence will be preserved from the expedition, possibly even including the remains of the men and maybe, just possibly, some of their photographs," he said.
The loss of HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, which was built in Topsham, Devon, prompted one of largest searches in history, running from 1848 to 1859.
The mystery has gripped people for generations, in part because no one knows for sure exactly what happened to the crew.
Experts believe the ships were lost when they became locked in the ice near King William Island and that the crews abandoned them in a hopeless bid to reach safety.
Reports at the time from local Inuits say the men, desperate for food, resorted to cannibalism before they died.
Sir John Franklin's wife spearheaded an attempt to find him, launching five ships in search of her husband and even leaving cans of food on the ice in the desperate hope he would find them.
Full Article: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-29131757
Additional Article: Franklin ship discovery just the 'beginning'
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It's kind of mind boggling to think that the Inuit's have been right for all these years in telling everyone where to look.
And I see no reason for anyone to have doubted them.
What an amazing story, Larry. I bet the Inuits are enjoying the 'I told you so's"
Like most of history, Native people are correct...I would be laughing in the face of all the naysayers. LOLOLOLOLOLOL
Yeah it kind of tends to answer who discovered what and when in an answer to sovereignty.
What took so long? Cynic that I am, were there any powerful entities that did not want such a find?
"were there any powerful entities that did not want such a find?"
Why yes as a matter of fact there are, Russia, Denmark and Iceland just to name a few who are making claims to the Arctic.
Bad news for those guys:
"This is truly a historic moment for Canada. Franklins ships are an important part of Canadian history given that his expeditions, which took place nearly 200 years ago, laid the foundations of Canadas Arctic sovereignty." (Harper)
Sovereignty over the North-West passage - dismissing the claims of others that it is International waters.
[I really wanted to add that now it's too late for the Palestinians to claim that the North-West Passage was stolen from them, but I decided that it would be a derail of the topic.]I just updated the article with more information, see the original posting.